Archive for the ‘pups’ Category
Puppies learn to walk and play
Today the pups had a busy day…they met a number of new people as we had a minor family party over here. They are alert for longer periods of time (5-10 minutes now instead of 1 or 2) and are actually beginning to play with each other! The “play” consists of licking, biting and climbing on each other but you can see the beginnings of real puppy tussling happening. I was pleased to see that they are comfortable being held by other people and are not alarmed by their different scents. This is the beginning of their socialization, the lessons they need to learn to go out into the world as good dogs.
You can watch this and other CanineFostering.com videos on YouTube.
As I was sitting in the puppy pen a few of the pups nuzzled into my leg and tried to nurse! I can’t describe the emotions that came up for me easily…it was heartwarming is the easiest way to sum it up. It told me that they trust me, they KNOW me, and they think that their mama and I are the same being; the same source of food and comfort. I felt honored to be trusted like that, to be sought after for comfort and nourishment. It is the same feeling I have when, as older pups, they come running to me as a mass sum, tails wagging at the sound of my voice. All of their bodies communicating the same thing: It is YOU! I LIKE YOU! It always makes me feel special to them. I like that feeling.
Update on puppy Poppy
Here is an update on Poppy, a pup from Chloe’s litter. We love getting these updates to pass along!
Poppy also just had her exam and vaccinations last week and she did well. She has grown a bit but is still seems to be the smallest one at 8.2 lbs although I think she has grown since. Like Jackson (formerly Jacob) — Poppy is getting a little more golden in her face and ears — at this point we have not noticed her stripe getting smaller and hope she keeps this as well.
Our biggest challenge has been the biting — but have since yesterday taken a different approach and it seems to be making all the difference. I watched a dog training video that talked about how this biting is the normal way puppies play with each other so we just need to redirect them. I kind of knew this but hearing this again helped me take a different approach. We were almost in a power struggle and I was getting her more riled up than redirecting her, but now instead of continually saying no and clapping my hands — If she bites my hand I say one ‘no bite’ and gently redirect her to her toy and continue to do this in a gentle manner. When she is biting on her toy I continually praise her and if she comes up and licks me instead of bites. I continually say good ‘kisses’ and she still gets a bit riled up at times or starts biting too hard but then I step out of her area for a bit or take her for a walk — and these times that she gets kind of crazy riled up seems to happen less and don’t last as long.
She seems to be fine with her crate and finally slept for 7 hours for the first time last night (11 – 6). She was getting up at 5. She has been to quite a few of my kids softball baseball games and is soooo good at these games (as long as we find her shade) — all the kids love having her there and she really seems to enjoy the kids as well — she is also making a lot of friends in our neighborhood!
Puppies start to walk and open eyes
Well tonight (Monday) it was clear that these pups are out of the woods. And I am relieved. I noticed two days ago that some of them had little slits opening in their eye lids and today about half of them have their eyes almost completely open. We won’t be having photos for a week as the flash is harmful to their developing eye tissue. I may try on a sunny day to get some but not tonight. In addition to their eye development, they are starting to walk! It is only for a few steps, and they are very wobbly, but they are walking!! They seem to be right on schedule, so their bout of kennel cough didn’t set them back, developmentally, at all. In fact, as I watched them nurse tonight I was struck by how vigorous they all are. I think they are really hungry now, and I’ve noticed Daisy‘s food intake increasing (finally). Yes, it seems the consensus is for the name Daisy so Daisy it is. I may be supplementing their nursing sooner than I had planned…I usually wait until they can stand (duh) to introduce them to lapping formula from a bowl and that usually happens after week 3…but here we are at 2 weeks plus one day and already they seem ravenous. If Daisy can keep up, then I’ll let her.
I also gave them their first worming today and from about 1.5 pounds at day 3 they are up to 4 pounds!! Yeah. I am really proud of this group. Also, I cut toenails tonight. They were crazy long and really scratchy. You are welcome, Daisy.
8 Tiny Puppies Nursing
As promised at the tail end of Mama Dog Gets a Bath, here we have an amazing video of eight 12-day old pups nursing their mama. TURN UP THE SOUND to hear all of the precious puppy grunts and slurps!
See this video and many other CanineFostering.com videos on YouTube.
Mama dog gets a bath
Well, today was SO hot that I figured if I bathed Sandy? Daisy? Angie? (still haven’t found a name right for her) outside she wouldn’t mind the cold water and she’d dry off in a snap. Plus I figured she’d like the time outside. Boy was she freaked out by the water! It could be that it was spraying at her from the hose (I tried to be gentle but there isn’t that gentle a way for one to spray another with a hose) or that it was cold, or that she’s never had a bath or a hose bath before – I’m not sure which it is. But once she realized that all I was doing was hosing her down and that she couldn’t get away from me, she submitted. It sort of was humbling to me, how dogs let us submit our will on them rather easily. Now I know what I was doing was for her own good and she ultimately seemed to really enjoy being clean (you know how dogs do that rubbing thing on the carpet once they’re clean? She was rubbing herself along the garage door!!) but it sort of hit me how I could have been doing anything to her and she would eventually give in. How trusting, and how sad that so many people betray that trust. It just really hit me today for some reason.
But anyway, hopefully she will be ok with her next bath and hopefully I didn’t teach her to be deathly afraid of them…I think not as, like I said, she clearly got into it after a bit. And it is nice to have her clean!! Birth is a yucky business and that first week continues to be a bit yucky. Add to that her bout of whipworm and the poop that goes a long with that, and her pups crawling all over her and THEIR loose stool and… well, you get the picture. The dog needed a bath. (more…)
About instincts – Mine and the mama dog’s
Daisy May? Angie?
Tonight I tentatively let out a sigh of relief…it seems our mama, Daisy May? Angie? has again decided to act like a mother. Her pups seemed content and are quietly sleeping when alone and vigorously crawling when she’s nursing them. They seem cleaner and as I watched her tonight she is attending to each of their elimination needs. although somewhat frantically. So it seems whatever derailed her a few nights ago is past us, that she’s back on track.
So, thinking this, I took her out for her last potty of the night. And I see her sniff and squat and I think “FINALLY” and then she sits down and watches the fireflies…sigh. But sooner than usual she gets down to business and potties…hurray. These little steps, like her realizing that she gets only a few times outside and that is the time for her to do her business, are huge accomplishments for her. As I was scooping up her liquid poop with a plastic bag in the dark while trying to hold onto her leash the thought hit me, “do veterinarians really know what they are talking about? Really?” I was told that whipworm is extremely contagious and that I should pick up all the poop immediately. As the vet told me this I said, “really? How?” and then as if an after thought they say “do the best you can” But when I ask abut how to protect myself and my family they say “make sure you wash your hands with soap and water.” SO, this highly contagious parasite that can live in the soil for FIVE years is adequately done away with using common soap and water. Why then can’t I just carry a spray bottle of the stuff and after unsuccessfully removing the poop blob just spray the whole thing with the apparently toxic bathroom staple?? Something doesn’t jive; either the parasite’s virulence is overrated or the merits of soap and water are. Either way, I think it is clear that NO ONE IN MY VET”s clinic (and I have to say I like these people a lot) have had to deal with a dog with whipworm or her poop lately – otherwise they would never advise me to remove all the poop, they’d say, “get the majority of it up and then NEVER WALK ANY ANIMAL ON THAT STRETCH OF LAWN FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.” Right?
Whatever.
So, the puppies are all sounding snotty and nasally. Sigh. I also feel sort of duped by the vet for bringing them all in and then getting no advice (or treatment) on how to stop what I knew was going to be an outbreak of kennel cough across my entire litter. I also suspect that the vet visit was a major contributing factor in making mama Angie or Daisy May or whatever we are going to call her feel like rejecting her pups….Sigh. Should have followed my gut there. Next time.
Now don’t get me wrong. I like medical advice. I also like medicine. But we need to always listen to our instincts and not follow other people’s advice without checking it out with ourselves first. Lesson learned, again.
